Then there were 4...

I realized today that my sweet baby girl was a month old, and I had yet to post anything about her. I have plenty of pictures though, so be prepared!

The labor and delivery went just splendid. Ivy was ten days late and I was in labor for 19 hours. I went into labor with Addie on her due date, and was only in labor for 8 hours. Splendid indeed! :) We couldn't afford to deliver Addie at the birthing center this time, so we went to St. Alphonsus. They were really supportive of me wanting a non-medicated birth and tried to just stay out of my way while I labored.

We were all on our way home from getting some costume measurements (that reminds me Trinity -- we have a drinking fountain in our house because we own a dance studio behind our house and the dancers come right inside our back door to use the bathroom and get a drink. Thank you for asking:) when I had my first painful contraction. I didn't think anything of it until I had another painful contraction 6 minutes later. I had already prepared myself emotionally that I wouldn't be going into labor on my due date - so I was kind of excited that this might be it! So we went home and I told Robbie that I was going to go relax in the bathtub and if they continued for another half an hour, then we could assume it was the real thing. Well, they continued for a half hour, but then completely stopped for a half hour. I told Adelynn she better quit messing around and make up her mind whether she was coming or not! After that little pep talk, she decided to come for real. I labored at home for another 2 hours then I decided the contractions were painful enough for us to head to my moms house to labor some more. (her house is half way to the hospital, and I didn't know how fast things were going to happen so we thought it would be a good idea to not have as far to go) We were only there another hour and then it was time to go. When we arrived at the hospital I was dialated to a 4.5. P.S. I had to lay in the bed for 20 minutes so they could monitor the baby and why on EARTH any woman could labor laying down is BEYOND me! I labored another couple hours walking around and in our room then I asked to use the tub. By the time they got the tub ready, I was only able to be in there for 15 minutes before I felt my water break. As soon as the words came out of my mouth that my water just broke, I was screaming that I had to push. Seriously. Had. To. Push. So they called my doctor in while they were telling me I had to get out of the tub before I could push, so I did, all the while yelling a bit to help me not push - but I couldn't help myself. By the time I had one leg up on the bed, her head was out and by the time I had my other leg up on the bed, she was out. The doctor barely had enough time to put her gloves on to catch Addie. Because she came so fast, I did tear. That was the only hard part about a natural birth...you're not numb for the stitches! :) But I was once again SO GLAD we had a natural birth. It was a beautiful experience.

And I can't tell this story without a shout out to Robbie. I got lots of, "you did phenomenal," and "what a champ," and "I can't believe you could do that!" But to be completely honest - the only way I was able to have a natural birth because of Robbie. He is such a good coach, and supported my every second! There were a couple times he couldn't be with me during contractions, and honestly, those contractions were a lot harder to get through than the ones where he was holding me. Thank you sweetheart for being my strength!

Life since Addie has been difficult. I feel like it's been a harder transition to 4 than there was to 3. I know lots of people feel differently. We just can't seem to get into a routine. Addie has also come with her own set of challenges. She has pretty severe acid reflux. We had to try a few different medications before we found that Prevacid works best. On top of that, she has colic. This makes our nights pretty rough. Bedtime before 3 am around here is quite rare. Then because she cries so much between the two, she gives herself painful gas from swallowing so much air. It doesn't help that she also got her dad's cold. I feel so bad for her. She's seemed just plain miserable since she got here for one reason or another. When she sin't in pain she is just the SWEETEST thing ever with the CUTEST smile I have ever seen. Ever. It should all work itself out here in a few months. But this is why I haven't had a chance to post anything yet. But I wouldn't trade her for anything. I don't know what I was worried about, wondering how I could ever love another baby as much as Ivy. As soon as I saw her, out popped another piece of my heart I didn't know was there. What did we ever do without you, Addie?

Ivy has been so sweet with her. She loves to give Addie loves, and gets so excited when she's awake. Her favorite thing is to help carry her form room to room and feels so betrayed when we don't let her help. (sometimes you just don't have time to take a half an hour to go from the kitchen to the bedroom!)

So this is our new little family. Welcome home Adelynn!